Tariff Reforms Urged to Boost India’s Domestic Refining Industry

A Reuters report datelined New Delhi, April 25 has said India’s vegetable oil industry has urged the government to widen the import tariff differential between crude and refined oils to discourage imports of processed oil and support domestic refining capacity.  
The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), the country’s vegetable oil industry said it has invested heavily in port-based refineries to process imported crude vegetable oil locally, creating jobs.  However, rising imports of refined products have hurt India’s interest. SEA said the current import tariff gap between crude palm oil and refined palm oil is too narrow to curb rising imports of processed grades.
 
Suppliers from Indonesia and Malaysia have been exporting more refined oils than crude, leading to lower capacity utilization at Indian refineries, the SEA said in a letter to food minister Prathad Joshi.  India meets nearly two-thirds of its vegetable oil demand through imports. It buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.